MARO ITOJE SOMEONE MIGHT SAY ‘YOU DON’T SPEAK LIKE A BLACK GUY’... IT’S LAUGHED OFF AS BANTER BUT RACISM IS A MATTER OF FACT
IT was George Floyd’s screams for his mother as he died while police knelt on his neck that traumatised Maro Itoje the most. Like many, the 25-year-old England lock, who is of Nigerian heritage, has seen plenty of harrowing videos showing violence against black people — but this latest murder hit him hard.
‘I saw the brutal nature of it, the slow death,’ he told Sportsmail during a virtual interview from his home in London. ‘Three police officers on a man, one kneeling on his neck. A man struggling to breathe and the slow killing.
‘For me, it was layered. How much pain George Floyd was in — for a person to scream for his mother, you have to be in a serious amount of distress. It’s a tough thing to imagine.
‘How the police officers looked as if they didn’t care, particularly the one kneeling on his neck. He saw all these people filming him and he literally didn’t care.
‘The reaction to that video, not only from the African-American community but black people all over the world as well as some white people, says, “Enough is enough”. This racism, this police brutality, has to stop.
‘It has made the world have a harsher look at structures across society and protest for change –— not only in America.’
Naturally, Itoje has found the past three weeks since Floyd was killed ‘tiring’ and emotional.
He feels compelled to speak up, adding his articulate voice to the chorus of black sportspeople who are desperate to use their position for change.
While Itoje is aware he has not endured the harsh upbringing of many, or had run-ins with the police, or suffered overt racism, he’s here to explain and educate.
‘What you do deal with is a load of racial micro-aggressions, whether at school or beyond,’ said Itoje, who attended Harrow School before joining Saracens.
‘Someone might say, “Maro, you speak well. I’m surprised – you don’t speak like a black guy”. Or “Do people only live in huts in Africa?” or if you wear a suit or something, “You’re not dressed very black today”.
‘Often it’s laughed off as banter or a joke, but the thing about racism is it is a matter of fact. If you say something that is racist, it’s not dependent on my intention, how well I know you, if you were given permission — racism is racism.’
Itoje (right) loved school and has taken all the opportunities presented to him. But he has a problem with the English education system. ‘When you’re getting taught about historical events, it’s a very fluffy, rosy picture that tends to get taught,’ he explains. ‘There is a common phrase that “history is written by the victors” and Britain has been victorious a lot, so it has had free rein to write history in its favour.
‘It paints this “white man saviour” image, especially in relation to the slave trade and colonialism. At secondary school, what we learnt about the slave trade was that the Europeans came, took Africans from their country, took them to the Americas and Europe.
‘They were captured for 400 years and after that a man called William Wilberforce came to save the day and we should be thankful to Britain for ending slavery.
‘That doesn’t tell the story of the Haitian revolution where slaves rose up against the French and created their own nation state. It doesn’t tell you about the anti-slavery rebellions in the African continent, it doesn’t tell you about the rebellions within
America.
‘It’s a very narrow story that’s being told.
‘Most people think African history started at the slave trade. If you’re taught that African history goes from slavery to colonialism, you’re just painting the wrong picture of the continent.’
WITH that context, it agitates Itoje that Boris Johnson has warned that the recent toppling of statues could ‘photoshop’ history.
‘The irony of what he’s said is that what we are teaching people is a photoshopped version,’ said Itoje. ‘That’s the whole problem with the statues.
‘If we were told, “OK, this person did this, this and this – these were the good things and these things aren’t acceptable, so they should be held accountable for them”, that would be better.
‘No one is a saint, but when you portray people who have done terrible things as saints, that’s where the problem comes from.
‘By doing that you’re saying two things. One: the bad thing that they have done doesn’t matter. Two: the victims of the person who committed these crimes, acts or atrocities are not important. That often follows racial lines. If you look across history, the people who are deemed less important are black and brown individuals rather than white. When you’re faced with a problem, the first thing you need to do is accept that there is a problem. ‘Initially after George Floyd’s murder I felt people were realising what is going on. But watching the news last weekend, a lot still don’t get it.’
Does rugby get it? The sport has a troubled history with race.
The Springboks were previously a symbol of white supremacy, the British and Irish Lions toured throughout the apartheid era and the regular song at Twickenham — Swing Low, Sweet Chariot — originated among slave-workers and first echoed around rugby HQ when black wingers Martin Offiah and Chris Oti scored tries in the 1980s.
‘Don’t get me wrong,’ said Itoje of England’s rugby anthem. ‘I don’t think anyone at Twickenham is singing it with malicious intent, but the background of that song is complicated. The need is to make rugby more open to all. When I started watching rugby in 2006 or so — compared to where we are now, we’ve moved forward. But there is more to go.’
Itoje wants to help. He compels society to realise its engrained racial biases, to ‘unlearn’ them and to reverse the conditioning.
In time, he intends to set up a foundation or initiative to help engage communities as yet unreached by rugby.
He wants to make an impact beyond his sport.
When he attended a Black Lives Matter protest in London a couple of weeks ago, he felt optimistic change would come, but clashes last weekend between protesters and far-right groups have tempered this. ‘There is a large proportion of people in our society who believe this is wishywashy stuff,’ he said with incredulity. ‘That’s the danger. It’s just a news bulletin, like before. The challenge is for this to result in material change in our minds and in law. There’s a long way to go.’